WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL B - JAPAN VS AUSTRALIA

March 12, 2023

Hideki Kuriyama

Tokyo Dome

Team Japan

Postgame Press Conference

Japan 7, Australia 1

Q. Congratulations on four straight wins. How do you evaluate the way you won tonight?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Yes, the way we win, well, it's not the way -- the important thing is to qualify in Pool B, that's the most important thing. There's many good things that I wanted to fix but the main goal is to qualify in Pool B, so I'm so pleased that we did it.

Q. You qualified in Pool B -- you secured first place for Pool B. How do you feel?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: All we're concerned is go to the quarterfinal, and the further we go, the opponent is going to be -- well, if we qualify with first place, our semifinal is going to be the second place of Pool A. That's what I wanted to -- all I can say right now is play hard, 100 percent because we don't know yet who is coming from Pool A.

Q. Today in the first inning, Ohtani hit a huge three-run home run. How do you see Ohtani hit that big home run at the very beginning?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Well, we've been playing and early in the game we were kind of struggling in the past. And we wish -- we wanted to score first. And scoring runs for the first is such so big, and so that made -- that made Yamamoto feel more relaxed. So that was a good score first.

Q. How let's stalking about the starting pitcher, Yamamoto, he's got eight strikeouts. How do you evaluate him for tonight's pitching?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: I'm not the guy to evaluate. Yamamoto is such a great pitcher. All the fans are I think pleased what he did for tonight.

Q. You have now got four straight wins, what is Team Samurai Japan's strength?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Well, it's just still the beginning and the middle way through the WBC tournament. All we can do is just step-by-step, day-by-day, and the remaining game is counting down, so we are going to put more concentration for the next day.

Q. Now let's talk about the semifinal. If there's any specific message to your players for the semifinal -- the quarterfinals, please share it with it us.

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Well, I don't know if I should say any comment for my players. All my players are eager to be the world champion. The more we gather, we are going to get closer. So I just want to be their supporter. I just want to be their helper.

Q. What is the turning point of tonight's game as manager of Team Japan? Is there any differences in comparing to the other three games?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Well, I'm not a reporter, so as manager's view, we score first, means we have more worries coming up for instance, say, what if -- what if -- what if we give extra base on balls or strike.

After playing nine innings, yes, we won as a fact but there's a huge gap in between the watcher and being a manager of the national team. It's hard to explain, though.

Q. Before Ohtani hit the three-run home run, Nootbaar got on case and Kondoh got a base hit, and their lead-off guy got a walk throughout the WBC tournament. What do you think?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Yes, you got that right. Nootbaar and Genda did a great job. But at the same time, I am trusting on them, and some of the players -- there's some players, they want to play better, but they cannot. Well, there's always a bunch of players who did well and who did not do well who wants to be better and who could not play well. And the most important thing is not individual performance but to get the win as one team. From now on it's going to be do-or-die games. The elimination is coming up, so, yeah, the important game is coming.

Q. You are always talking with us that players from the major leagues, after joining the major league players to the roster, there could be some chemistry change. Do you think your team is having a chemistry change yet or not?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Of course, yes, I believe there's many chemistry coming up -- I mean, it happened. But when I said the chemistry changed, it's not the moment, it's including the future of the Japanese baseball. Looking back at the four previous games, the players are feeling many, many things, many, many ways, and that's how I felt.

Q. You just played four consecutive games and Kuribayashi is the only player who didn't pitch. If you could share Kuribayashi's condition, please let us know.

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Yes, he has tightness for the lower back, like I mentioned before the game start, that's all I can say for now.

Q. You've played four games and qualified for the first round. The goal is to go through the quarterfinal and the upcoming quarterfinal, semifinal and final, and it's an elimination game. Is there any change to the way you will play, and the momentum, if there's any specific thought, feel for the upcoming games, let us know, please.

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Yes, of course. Yes, it is but the previous four games, it is okay for us to lose only one game, but 3-1 is all right for us. That was one of our plan. But at the same time, I am trying not to lose any games. I am deeply thinking to myself and managed players who played, who are playing, so there's not much changing in the previous four games, and the upcoming quarterfinal, semifinal and final.

Q. You were manager when Ohtani played in the Fighters. As a manager for Team Japan, Ohtani hit -- as a hitter, Ohtani, he has a .500 average, eight RBIs and every single game he played, he's got at least one RBI. How do you think about Ohtani's offense?

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Yes, Ohtani is who he is.

Q. Can you tell us about Genda, please, if there's a roster change, let us know.

HIDEKI KURIYAMA: Like I mentioned at the start of the game, it's a day-to-day situation.